KaySquirrels Blog Thingy

I used Pac-N-Save Shipping and Moving 2003 Ltd / PNS Logistics Inc (based out of Edmonton, Alberta) to move my belongings from Canada to the UK.

Their local contractor came to collect my boxes in Ottawa on October 21st, and I was told to expect them to arrive as my requested destination (High Wycombe) within the next 7 - 14 days.

I got a letter on November 5 from the shipping company handling the UK side of things (Box Consolidators Ltd.) saying that my boxes were expected to arrive in Basildon on November 6th, and that I could collect them from there. Basildon is a 2 hour drive from here, and nowhere even close to High Wycombe. I emailed Pac-N-Save / PNS Logistics right away on November 5th to find out what was going on:

Hello,

Bill of Lading : [removed]

Unit #/MAWB: [removed]

Box Consolidators Ltd’s reference #: [removed]

With regards to the recent shipment you sent for me from Ottawa to the UK, I have just received word that it is expected to arrive Nov 6th in the UK. The notice I got from Box Consolidators states that the port of discharge is Thames Port, London. The “Collect from and devanning point” is given as: BBC Global Ltd, Unit 5 Quatro Park, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3GH.

In the PNS contract I was given (that I have attached to this email) however, it specified (as I had requested) that the Destination Centre/Port would be High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England.

Is this not where my goods were sent?

Why am I being told to collect them from Basildon instead?

The distance from High Wycombe, where I have asked you to send the goods, to Basildon, is about 2 hours on a good day without traffic.

Please confirm the address in High Wycombe that I can collect my goods from.

Thank you,

The president of the company emailed me back on Saturday, November 7th with:

The shipments are sent to the nearest port of final destination, I will check with the shipping company on Monday to see if this destination is the nearest port, the price did not include to door service in the United Kingdom.”

I know what I paid for, however the details on what my price included wasn’t my question, was it? The issue was: Why did they say the destination was in Wycombe if it really wasn’t? They had even put Destination Centre/Port: High Wycombe right on my invoice!

Being a shipping company and all, and having contacts at the UK shipping companies here, one would THINK that they would have known what port it’d be going to ahead of time, and shared this information with a paying client. Apparently not.

If there’s no port closer to Wycombe, why not TELL people this before they confirm the booking? They should have told me that my things would be sent 2 hours further away than indicated on my shipping invoice BEFORE taking my money.

Oh, and we’re now Friday, and still no follow-up from Pac-N-Save / PNS Logistics. Great display of customer service there!

It’s a good thing we contacted Box Consolidators Ltd. ourselves, and collected my items yesterday. Lucky for me, we had access to a van, and Ploes was able to book the day off to drive out there.

Why would the president of a company respond to a valid customer enquiry with what amounts to be a total and complete brush-off?

Imagine if I’d movers booked, and a truck rented here. It would have really altered the final cost to me, having the items so unreasonably far away from where Pac-N-Save / PNS Logistics told me they would be sent.

I would not use Pac-N-Save Shipping and Moving 2003 Ltd / PNS Logistics Inc, not even for moves within Canada. You get what you pay for, indeed! Now I understand why their prices are a bit lower, when I see the completely unacceptable quality of service they provide.

I should have known I’d have issues with them when it took them an entire week to get back to me in August 2005 to even book this move. I emailed them on August 5th and it wasn’t until several emails and telephone calls later on August 11th that I get an email — from a Yahoo email address — from the president’s assistant. It seems that although he handles all the email correspondence, and was on vacation until September 2nd, that it was not deemed necessary to put an auto-responder on his email account, or to have his email correspondence forwarded to someone who would be attending to business matters in his absence.

When I finally heard back from his assistant, I’d thought the issue was just a one-off, so I let it slide, and booked with them despite their oversight. However this latest mess really makes me wish I had given my money to any other company. It is disappointing that they are able to remain in business with despite their obvious lack of business ethics and customer service skills.

On a related note: A little while ago, someone on a Canadian Expats forum I belong to asked about ways of moving her things back to Canada. I’d mentioned Pac-N-Save Shipping and Moving 2003 Ltd / PNS Logistics Inc to them, as a possible method of shipping her items.

Yesterday, after I’d made a post about the whole destination city issue, she told me that she had contacted Pac-N-Save / pNS Logistics a week and a half ago, asking them for a price quote — and had yet to receive a response! One slip-up is an accident. Twice raises concerns, but three times?! I’m glad she won’t waste her money booking with them, the way I did!

On the bright side, despite Pac-N-Save Shipping and Moving 2003 Ltd / PNS Logistics Inc’s questionable business practices, and complete lack of customer service once they have your money, my boxes are now sitting in our livingroom waiting to be unpacked.